Words
by TheSeventhElement
Summary: "You're just... words can't describe what you mean to me." "Words aren't important, I just need you here..." RoxasxOC. AU. I plan on making this long-ish. Didn't know what to rate it, so it'll be T for now. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

As I sat in my seat, I began to fidget. I couldn't stand the uncomfortable seats that trains use these days to save money.

I continued to sit there, fidgeting like crazy because I couldn't get comfortable in the stupid seat. Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I jumped at the buzzing feeling.

"GAH!" I shouted in surprise, earning a few stares from fellow passengers on the train. I blushed, looking down at my lap and pulling my phone out. It was my best friend, Roxas Strife, who lived in my hometown of Destiny Islands.

**Tay! (: Are you getting here anytime soon?**

I smiled down at the screen. Roxas could be so impatient sometimes. Ever since I'd started school in Hollow Bastion, he'd missed me like crazy. I texted him every day, because Roxas was so important to me. He'd been there for me ever since we were five years old, when we started kindergarten. He was my only friend for a while, but he introduced me to some of his friends and soon his friends were my friends, too. My whole childhood I owed to Roxas.

_Yeah, I'm about five minutes away. Anxious, Blondie? :P_

I always called him Blondie. It went way back to when we first met...

-FLASHBACK-

I was playing in the sandbox at Destiny Islands Elementary School on my first day of kindergarten, and I remember that I was building a sandcastle. It was almost finished, and just as I was about to put the final red flag on the top, someone came running up and jumped square in the middle of my castle.

"HEY!" I shouted, looking up to see a boy about my age with spiky blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. "Watch where you're jumping, Blondie!"

He blushed and looked away, but turned back to look at me and said quietly, "I'll help you rebuild it if you want me to."

I smiled. "Sure thing. I'm Taylee, by the way."

While we re-built the castle, he told me his name and we talked about school. Neither of us were too excited about it, as it turned out. He told me about what he liked to do, and we had quite a lot in common. At the time our regular hobbies included playing at the local park, eating at the diner down the street, going to the beach, and enjoying sea-salt ice cream.

About fifteen minutes later, we were done with our castle.

"Good work," he said, smiling at me. We high-fived and laughed together.

Then, a bell rang, signaling the end of recess, and our teacher came out of the school. "Time to get inside, children!"

We stood up.

"Hey, Taylee..." he said, trailing off.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Do you... wanna be my friend?" he asked in that same quiet voice he'd used when I'd met him just minutes ago.

A huge grin spread across my face. "Definitely. Come on, Blondie, we gotta go inside," I said, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the school. From then on, we were inseparable.

-END FLASHBACK-

My phone buzzed again, just as I was finishing my reminiscing.

**Just a little... I mean, you've been gone for like, a year!**

_Ha, yeah. I miss everyone. H_ow's Sora?

**He's good. A little over-excited to see you. You know how he is.**

I almost laughed out loud, thinking of Sora running around the Destiny Island Train Station shouting, "TAYLEE'S COMING HOME! TAYLEE'S COMING HOME!"

That's probably exactly what he's doing.

"Attention passengers," a voice said on the intercom, "We will be arriving at the station shortly. Please remain seated until the train has come to a complete stop, and enjoy your stay in Destiny Islands."

I did a bit of a fan girl squee and put my phone in my pocket, deciding not to text Roxas back since I'd be seeing him in a few minutes anyways.

As soon as the train was at a halt, I jumped up and gathered my suitcase from the rack above my seat and rushed for the exit, as to avoid getting stuck behind slow people.

I hopped down from the pull-out steps on the train's side and immediately began scanning the crowd for Roxas and Sora's gravity-defying spiked hair. I'd only been searching for about thirty seconds when suddenly, I was tackled from behind. I fell to the floor with an un-graceful thud, letting out an "oof" when I hit the cement floor.

"TAYLEEEEEEEEE!" an enthusiastic and very happy Sora squealed in my ear.

I laughed at his antics. "Yeah, it's good to see you too, Sora. Can I please get up now?"

"Oh! Sorry."

Getting up and giving him a hug, I said, "That's okay."

I looked over Sora's shoulder and saw the rest of my friends. There was Axel, Riku, Kairi, and of course, Roxas. I gave the group a smile, picked up my almost-forgotten bags and ran over to them, with Sora close behind me.

"Hey, short stuff!" Axel said, pulling me into a huge bear hug and picking me up with ease, causing me to drop my bags.

"Hi!" I exclaimed while still in the air, laughing.

Axel laughed too and put me down. Kairi came up to me next, and I hugged her. "Kairi! You been keeping the boys in line?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Always, Tay," she responded in a happy tone.

Riku was never one for affections, so he just kind of waved in greeting. I waved back. "Hi, Riku! Good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, Taylee," he said with a smile.

Lastly, I turned to Roxas, a huge grin on my face. "BLONDIE!" I practically screamed, running over to him as fast as I could.

He was also wearing a huge smile, his arms spread out for a hug. I squeezed him tight. He laughed, picking me up and spinning me around like in all those cheesy movies. "I missed you, Roxas."

After he put me down, he looked at me, still smiling. "I missed you too."


	2. Chapter 2

"Alright guys," Roxas said loud enough so that everyone could hear him over the chatter in the train station. "I think we should take Taylee home so she can get unpacked."

Everyone nodded their head or mumbled an agreement of some sort. I started to pick up my bags, but Axel took them from me. "Ladies shouldn't have to carry their own bags," he said with a smirk. I smiled and blushed at his sweetness.

Riku, Sora, and Kairi went in Sora's red Chevy cruze, while Axel, Roxas, and I got in Roxas's black Ford fusion. We drove along at a leisurely pace, it wasn't like we were in a hurry. Finally, we reached the place I'd called home ever since I was six years old. The home that the Strifes and I lived in.

Yep, you read that right. I lived with the Strifes. Long story short, my dad died in a car accident when I was about five, and my mom started using drugs to ease her grief. She was arrested, and with no other living family in the area, the Strifes were kind enough to take me in. I was so grateful to them. They were like family to me.

"Home sweet home!" I exclaimed, jumping out of the car and running into the house to find mom and dad. As soon as I was in the door, I was greeted with Mrs. Strife's warm embrace.

"We missed you so very much, dear."

"I missed you too, mom."

When we pulled away, I saw Mr. Strife coming down the stairs. "There she is!" he exclaimed, walking to me and giving me a hug.

"Hey dad!"

By the time we were done greeting one another, I had tears in my eyes. "I missed you guys so much. It's so much different being away from your family."

"I know honey," mom said, looking at me sympathetically, "but but the bullying situation at the high school here was getting so out of hand! We just couldn't bear to see you like that any more."

Yeah, the kids at Destiny Islands High picked on me because my mother was a drug addict. They judged ME for what SHE did. Kids would follow me to the park after school and verbally abuse me, calling me names like Crack Pot and Druggie. They would tell me how worthless I was, and that I was no better than my drug-using mother. After a while, I even started believing them. I believed that I was a good-for-nothing loser. Mom even started taking me to counseling until I realized that they were just trying to get in my head. But mom still insisted that I transfer to Hollow Bastion so that the bullying would stop.

"Yeah, I know," I replied with a sigh, knowing that there was no way I could change her mind.

-LATER-

I was just finishing unpacking my things and putting them back where they belonged when an excited-looking Sora poked his head into my room.

"Hey, Taylee. You wanna come with us to see a movie? We're going to celebrate your coming home!" he said in a hurry, finishing off with a smile.

I got a huge grin on my face. "Sure thing. What movie are we going to see?"

Sora's smile got even bigger. "The Devil Inside. Roxas knows you like scary movies. We decided on that one since it IS your day after all."

"Aww, how sweet of you guys!" I exclaimed putting my hand over my heart. "Just let me change real quick and I'll be right downstairs."

"Kay kay, we'll be waiting for you."

I dug in my closet for a while, trying to decide what to wear. I finally decided on a black and yellow Chuck Taylor shirt, some white shorts, and my favorite black Converse.

When I was done getting dressed, I touched up my makeup a bit and headed downstairs.

Everyone was there - Riku, Kairi, and Axel were already there and waiting. "Hey guys," I said, "Ready to go?"

Roxas smiled at me. "Yup, you bet! We're all gonna go in my car."

I looked at him with a questioning look. "Is there enough room for all of us in there?"

"Yea- wait. One, two, three, four, five... six. Hm. I guess someone will have to sit on somebody's lap."

"Alright then, how about you let Axel drive and I'll sit on your lap?" I asked with a laugh.

"Ha, okay Taylee."

We all went outside to the driveway and piled into Roxas's car. Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat in the back, Axel drove, and Roxas sat in the front.

"Well?" he said, looking at me, still standing hesitantly by the open passenger side door, "Are you gonna get in here or not?"

"Oh... yeah," I replied quietly, awkwardly climbing into the car and sitting on his lap. I felt his warm thighs beneath mine, blushing.

"Comfy?" he asked, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

I laughed quietly. "I guess so."

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and turned me sideways so that my head was leaning on the window and my feet were almost on Axel. He moved one of his arms to support my neck. Now that I could see him clearly, I noticed that he was indeed smirking. "Better?"

"Yeah," I answered, closing my eyes and relaxing against him. I dozed a bit until we got to the theater, when Roxas woke me gently.

"Hey Taylee, we're here. Wake up."

I opened my eyes slowly, yawning a bit before climbing out of the car and starting to walk toward the theater with the rest of the group.

As we stood in line to get tickets, I realized something.

"Oh shit, I forgot my wallet," I said, feeling my pockets.

Roxas smirked at me. "Don't worry about it, Tay. I'll pay for you."

I blushed a bit and smiled. "Thanks Blondie."

Once everyone had their tickets, we went over to the concession stand to buy some snacks. Roxas bought us a large popcorn to share - he LOVED popcorn.

We showed our tickets to the gaurd standing by theater two and he let us in. There weren't too many people in the theater yet, but we were a bit early. We got some seats almost directly in the middle of the seating area. Riku sat in the innermost seat, with Sora and Kairi after him. Then was Axel, me, and Roxas.

After what felt like an hour of waiting through previews, the movie finally started. It was SO scary. Every five minutes I jumped and clung to Roxas. He would just chuckle and pat my hand comfortingly. At one point, close to the end, I covered my eyes and sunk down in my seat, afraid of what would happen next. Roxas put his arm around me and pulled me close, telling me it was just a movie and that it would be alright.

The movie lasted for about two hours. When it was over, we all got out of our seats and started to exit the theater.

"That... was... AWESOME!" Axel yelled loudly once we were outside.

The rest of us laughed. Typical Axel.

(A/N: Ok, so it might get a little slow for a while. I have mid-terms at school and a bunch of other crap... :l Sorry guys.)


	3. Chapter 3

It's weird really, if you think about it.

As soon as she left... I got the weirdest feeling. It was like, when she hugged me goodbye and got on that train almost a year ago, a part of me just died. I didn't want her to go. I hadn't really realized how much I like being around her until she left. Of course, she texted me every day, just like she had promised, and she came home on the holidays, but I missed her when she wasn't here.

Do I love her?

_Taylee? No way, she's like a sister!_

That's what I most likely would have said had you asked me that question a year ago. Now, I quite honestly wouldn't know what to say. It's complicated, Tay and I. Sometimes we just act the way we always did, but I've been noticing slight changes in the way she reacts to things I say or do. For example, when we all went to the movies and she had to sit on my lap, she was blushing and acting all shy. We'd done it thousands of times, I can't even count how many, and she never did that before yesterday.

Maybe I'm just imagining it.

Maybe she hasn't been acting differently.

It's hard to say.

To answer the question, yes.

I do love Taylee.

(Yeah, it's really short. . But this was just a filler chapter. It'll be getting better soon. :P )


	4. Chapter 4

When I woke up the next morning, I was still tired from the previous outing last night. After the movie, we had all gone to eat at a nearby McDonald's and then went to the mall for a while.

Axel had been annoying me the entire time, constantly offering to pay for my things and carry my bags. Although it was nice and I appreciated his kindness, there was a point when it just got creepy.

I briefly wondered what was up with him...

Oh well.

Anyways, it was only eight a.m. when I woke up, and I was frustratingly unable to fall back asleep, so I got dressed in this:  
>.compark_time_lt/set?id=44456856  
>and headed downstairs.<p>

I grabbed a bagel from the pantry in the kitchen before making my way to the front door and going outside.

I decided to go to the park down the block, where Roxas and I played as kids and sometimes even went in recent years. On my way there, I admired the beauty of Destiny Islands, taking in the palm trees and quaint homes while munching on my breakfast bagel. I'd always liked it here. It was a peaceful place.

Well, most of the time. 

It had its moments. Like when the bullies were beating people up.

When I got to the park, I sat down on my favorite swing and began to swing back and forth. There was so much going on in my head that I didn't even notice when Seifer and his gang came strolling into the park.

"Look who we have here, guys. It's our favorite little druggie!" he said, gesturing to me and starting to laugh.

Frowning, I stopped swinging and just stared at my feet.

"What's the matter, druggie? Nothing to say?" he taunted.

"I think the cat's got her tongue, you know?" said Rai.

As I got up to leave, Fuu rushed to me and grabbed me by the arm, twisting it painfully behind my back. I groaned in pain and fell to my knees, with Fuu still holding my arm tightly.

"And just where do you think you're going, huh? We're not done with you yet. We thought we told you never to come back here. No one wants you around."

"That's... not true..." I managed to whisper through my pain, mainly trying to convince myself rather than the other people in the vicinity.

"Oh? And who might that be, hm? Who would want to have a druggie like you living anywhere near them?" He sneered at me cruelly.

"I would."

The voice came out of nowhere. And I was glad, because it was a voice I recognized. It was Roxas's.

I looked up, and there he was. He had on his trademark outfit, and he was wearing a very serious expression on his face. I knew that things could get pretty nasty when he was angry. This was one of those times.

Seifer and his gang were frozen. Whether it was from fear or shock, I'm not sure. Roxas slowly walked over to where Seifer was standing above me, as calmly as you can when you're as angry as a water-logged cat. He stared him in the face with the same expression as before, before proceeding to punch him square in the nose with all of the force he could muster.

He sunk to the ground, groaning in pain as I had. All Roxas had to do to Rai and Fuu was glare at them and they were running off like scared puppies.

Roxas kicked Seifer in the gut. "I advise you to leave before things get ugly," he said menacingly, leaning over Seifer's body.

He slowly rose from his position on the ground, a good portion of his face covered in blood from his nose. Despite the fact that Roxas had bested him, he had the nerve to sneer at me and say, "This isn't over yet, Taylee," before running off in the direction his friends had gone.

I slumped the rest of the way to the ground from my position on my knees, finally letting the sobs come. My face was in the dirt and my arm was probably broken, but I was past caring at that point.

Roxas knelt down beside me and patted my good arm. "Don't listen to him, Tay."

"B-but, he'll j-just keep d-doing this t-to me..." I said between sobs, no longer trying to keep it in. I was tired of hiding my emotions.

He helped me sit up and looked me in the eyes. "No he won't. You have me. I'll protect you. You saw how I just handed him his ass on a silver platter," he said, flashing me a grin. I couldn't help but smile back.

"There's my girl. Now what do you say we get you fixed up, and we'll go get some sea-salt ice cream? Sound good?"

My face lit up at the mention of my favorite summer treat. "For sure. Thanks, Blondie."

Roxas helped me stand up, and even though I could walk perfectly fine, he insisted that he carry me back to the house. He wouldn't even budge on the subject, so I eventually gave in. He picked me up bridal style, careful not to bump my bad arm, and carried me back to our house.

When we got there, he wrapped my arm in an ace bandage and put it in the sling he'd used when he dislocated his shoulder. After putting band-aids on the minor cuts on my knees from my fall, we headed off to get our ice cream.

It was a good thing that the ice cream stand was only a few blocks from our house, because I was so tired and probably couldn't have walked much farther than that. Of course, I didn't let Roxas know that. I felt like a burden when he carried me.

We ordered and paid for our ice cream before sitting on a bench near the stand and eating. I talked a bit about my school in Hollow Bastion, and he told me about everything that had been going on at the local high school.

"So Larxene and Axel broke up, huh? I never saw that one coming. I thought they were good together," I said. Roxas had just finished explaining to me that Axel had broken up with her just before summer vacation.

"Yeah, everyone did. They were pretty close. At least that's what it seemed like," he replied, taking a lick of his ice cream.

Well, that was some interesting news.

When we were done with our delicious treats, we threw away the sticks and walked back home.

"Hey Tay, you wanna watch a movie or something?" Roxas asked, plopping down on the couch.

"Sure, why not?" I replied, smiling. "What do you wanna watch?" 

"Oh, whatever you want. I like all the movies we own anyways."

I looked at the shelf of DVDs by our large living room TV and finally decided on one. "We're watching Finding Nemo, because I haven't seen it in forever," I said, laughing.

He laughed too. "I love Finding Nemo!"

He went to the kitchen, popped some popcorn, and came back into the living room just as the movie was starting to play. I took some popcorn and ate it, but about fifteen minutes into the movie, I started to yawn due to my inability to sleep. "Tired?" Roxas asked.

"A little bit," I said, trying not to yawn but failing. He just chuckled as I lay with my head in his lap. I drifted to sleep to the feeling of him running his fingers through my hair. Neither of us saw the stares we were getting from a jealous redhead through the living room window.


	5. Chapter 5

I was pissed. That's the best word to describe the way I was feeling. Frankly, I don't give a shit if Taylee dates someone else – I'm not exactly in love with her, it's just a crush really. Even if I did break up with Larxene for her, she's not all that special to me. But the fact that I've been beaten out by Roxas of all people, I can't tolerate.

Roxas and I are best friends, yes, but we've always been extremely competitive with each other. Well, at least I know I have. I can't stand how Roxas always beats me at everything. He's ALWAYS beaten me at everything. Whether it was sports, school, or just a dumb race to the park, I always lost to Roxas. Losing Taylee to him, that's simply too much for me to take. I'm a sore loser.

On my way home, I angrily glared at the ground as I walked. My bright red spikes bounced as I stormed on. _What_, I thought, _can I do to get Taylee to love me instead of him?_ It was certainly a dilemma. Roxas is handsome, that I couldn't deny, and he's pretty funny and nice... I cursed to myself. This would be nearly impossible.

Suddenly an idea popped into my head. An evil, wicked idea. When I got home, I carved "T + A" into my wall with my pocket knife for about the millionth time and smirked at my work when I was done. "I will have you, Taylee. No matter what the cost. Got it memorized?"

* * *

><p>I woke up with a start. I'd been having the strangest dream about Axel... In the dream, I was sitting with Taylee just like I had last night, and he barged in the door as we were watching a movie. He was screaming obscenities at me and calling me all kinds of names. He took Taylee by the wrist and dragged her out the door. She was crying and yelling for me to save her, trying to escape his grasp, but it was like I was frozen. I couldn't move to help her even though I desperately wanted to. It was a terrible nightmare.<p>

Looking down at Taylee, whose head lay in my lap as she slept peacefully, I smiled contentedly. She was so beautiful, even when she was asleep. I carefully moved her head from my lap to a nearby pillow and got up to make us some breakfast for when she woke up.

A few minutes and several burns later, we were eating our scrambled eggs and bacon at the kitchen table. The silence between us was strangely comfortable. Yet, with Taylee, nothing was really awkward. I could be myself around her and not feel weird, because we were so close.

When she was done, she wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked at me. "Thanks for the breakfast, Blondie. It was really good."

"No problem, Tay," I said, standing up and taking our plates and forks to the sink.

"Really Blondie, thanks. A lot... For everything." I turned around from my place at the sink. Taylee had stood and was now leaning against the table. She had a small smile on her face, but there were tears in her eyes. I went back to the table and hugged her. She hugged back as well as she could with one arm, and I felt her smile into my shoulder. "You're the best friend I could ever hope to have, Roxas. I don't know what I'd do without you."

I smiled, even though I knew she couldn't see it, and nuzzled my face into her neck. She'd used my real name. She never did that. My heart soared at the sentiment of the moment. This was my chance. _Do __it. Tell her._

I hesitated. I'd accepted that I was in love with Taylee, but does she love me back? If she doesn't and I confessed, I risked ruining our friendship. On the other hand, if she does love me back, it would probably be the greatest day of my entire life. Before I could say anything, Taylee pulled away. "So, do you wanna go do something today? We could hang out at the mall if you want."

"Sure," I said with a smile. My chance had passed. I could only tell her when the time was right... If I ever decided to tell her at all.

We both got ready to go to the mall. For once, I didn't wear my trademark outfit, but chose instead a black T-shirt with some cool red designs on it and some dark-wash jean shorts. I wanted to look nice, even though Taylee most likely wouldn't notice.

When I had brushed my teeth and styled my hair, I went downstairs where Taylee was already waiting, to my surprise. She was dressed in a green and blue tank top and jean shorts, with some rubber bracelets and a rainbow necklace. She looked beautiful, but I think she always looks beautiful.

She looked at me and smiled. "Ready to go, Blondie?" she asked, and I nodded in reply.

"Hey," I said, as she went to open the passenger side door to my Chevy, "Why don't we take our skateboards instead?" I hadn't been on my skateboard since the previous summer. I couldn't bring myself to do it without Taylee by my side. She was my skateboarding buddy. It just didn't feel right.

"Sure," Taylee replied, going into the garage and disappearing from sight. I heard some rummaging sounds, and she hadn't come out of the garage for a few minutes, so I decided to come and help her. But right as I rounded the corner Taylee ran right into me with a surprised, "Oh!" and fell to the floor. I helped her up and she dusted herself off.

"You sure are having a lot of accidents lately," I said with a chuckle. She just glared at me, but broke into a grin after a few seconds.

She tossed me my skateboard and we were off. The ride there was relatively quiet. Both of us were too busy admiring the scenery of Destiny Islands to say much of anything. But like I said, we're never awkward around each other.

When we got to the tiny mall of the town, we went to put our skateboards in the mall's main office. The head security guard there, Leon, always let us leave them there while we walked around. Living in a tiny town for sixteen years, you get to know pretty much everyone, and Leon was one of them. He greeted us with a wave as we walked in, from his usual spot in front of all the security monitors. "Hey guys," he said warmly, "Good to see you back again, Taylee."

She nodded her head and smiled. "It's good to be back, Leon."


End file.
